J.J. Abrams And George Lucas’ Chat About ‘Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’ Involved Midi-Chlorians

Before writing the script for The Rise of Skywalker, J.J. Abrams met with George Lucas to discuss all things Star Wars, although maybe not George’s thoughts on The Force Awakens. “I feel that the story we told, the goal for this movie, the job was to end not just this trilogy… but to end nine films, three trilogies,” Abrams said about his (and presumably Kathleen Kennedy’s) sit-down with Lucas. “There have been a lot of ideas since the beginning, since George first came up with this, of where things could go. We had a meeting with him before we even wrote the script about [The Rise of Skywalker].”

What did they discuss Midi-chlorians, obviously, those not-at-all-controversial microscopic life forms that reside in all living cells, but especially Force-sensitive Jedis like Anakin. Lucas is apparently still obsessed with Midi-chlorians, which were introduced in The Phantom Menace, or to quote Abrams, “He loves his Midi-chlorians.”

“He had a lot of things to say about the nature of the Force, the themes that he was dealing with when he was writing the movies,” Abrams [told] Total Film. “Yes, there were some conversations about Midi-chlorians – he loves his Midi-chlorians. But it was a very helpful thing. Sitting with him is a treat, just to hear him talk, because it’s fucking George Lucas talking about Star Wars. I always feel it’s a gift to hear him talk about that stuff. Because the effect that he had on me at 10 years old is utterly profound.” (Via)

Abrams chatting with his role model, only for said role model to discuss freaking Midi-chlorians, is like if Bob Dylan agreed to meet his biggest fan… but they could only talk about Knocked Out Loaded. Respect. Anyway, you thought The Last Jedi inspired hot takes Imagine if Midi-chlorians play an important plot point in The Rise of Skywalker.